Netflix Eyes ‘Wet Hot American Summer’ Series

The long-gestating follow-up to cult 2001 feature comedy Wet Hot American Summer finally might come together in the form of a series for Netflix. The streaming service is in talks with the film’s co-writer/director David Wain and co-writer Michael Showalter, who have been the driving force behind reviving the project, set at a summer camp. Sources stress that the conversations are ongoing and could fall apart, but there is will on both sides to make this happen. According to Variety, which first reported the talks, the series would try to reunite many of the original cast members. The film, which failed at the box office before achieving cult status, starred then-up-and-comer Paul Rudd, Bradley Cooper, Amy Poehler, Elizabeth Banks, Ken Marino, Molly Shannon, Christopher Meloni, Janeane Garofalo, David Hyde Pierce and Michael Ian Black. Wain and Showalter had publicly discussed their ideas for a Wet Hot American Summer prequel with the original cast members playing teenage versions of the characters. If the Wet Hot American Summer series comes together, it is expected to employ the model used by Netflix to revive another comedy cult, the 2003-06 Fox series Arrested Development, which was able to reassemble its entire original cast.

13 Comments

Great idea. Just watched “Marjorie Morningstar” too. Great subject. Liked that Mike Binder picture too. Even read Michael Eisner’s book and enjoyed it as a light read.

Alex •

I would definitely watch that. One of my faves.
Sadly, chances are…it’s never gonna happen.
Also, BCoop would never play gay again.

joshreader •

Paul Rudd was not an “up and comer” in 2001.

Jay Stevenson •

not an “up and comer”?

yeah, i think Rudd, who had just finished “Gen-X Cops 2: Metal Mayhem”, was totally at the top of his career trajectory…

MexyMartini •

I am not a fan of this film. I’ve tried watching it twice, with different friends each time, and we just couldn’t finish it.

Tim •

Me Either and quite frankly I don’t think there are many fans other than the filmmakers themselves and a few critics. I can’t see anybody clamoring to see this. It’s already been reported that the filmmakers asked Universal to rerelease that film on dvd in a special edition for it’s tenth anniversary and Universal declined using the reason that the dvd thats already out didn’t sell. That in itself tells you there’s no real fan base for this.

Mike •

Except this time it’ll be funny?

Writer •

Comedy is subjective, but anyone who doesn’t find Wet Hot American Summer funny is an idiot.